West Memphis will be trying to extend their winning streak over the Forrest City Mustangs tonight and hang on to the Cotton Bale trophy one more year.
Forrest City has not defeated West Memphis since 1997 and that game, like tonight's, was played at Sam Smith Stadium.
The Mustangs continue to struggle on offense putting just 96 points on the board through nine games.
The Mustangs scored 70 of that total in their first four games of the season.
West Memphis hasn't been much better, scoring only 49 points in their last four games.
Sylvan Hills ended Forrest City's postseason hopes last Friday with a 26-7 win. The Mustangs will use tonight's game to begin preparing for next season's schedule.
West Memphis still has an outside shot to reach the playoffs.
As it is each year, tonight's winner takes home the Cotton Bale trophy.
THE GAME: The Forrest City Mustangs (4-5; 2-4 AAAAA-East) vs the West Memphis Blue Devils (4-5; 3-3 AAAAA-East) Friday, Nov. 2, at Sam Smith Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Neither team is ranked.
FORREST CITY: The Mustangs are playing for a little late season respect tonight and more than likely will give lots of underclassmen a chance to get the feel of conference football. The Mustang offense, which has suffered some major blows this year, hasn't scored since the Blyetheville game back on October 12.
WEST MEMPHIS: The Blue Devils have won their last two games by a total of four points -- beating Sylvan Hills by a single point and edging Jacksonville last week by three to get back into the postseason playoff picture.
Hughes wanted the second seed from the 6AAA into the state playoffs. Brinkley ended that dream with a 45-35 win last Friday. The Blue Devils can clinch third tonight with a win over Dumas.
Dumas is coming into the game on an emotional high after taking Lonoke for a 20-13 ride last Friday.
Tonight's game plan is simple. The winner gets the No. 3 seed and the loser gets the fourth seed. Both seeds carry with it a first-round road trip.
The Bobcats appear to be better than their on-paper 2-6 mark. And no doubt they will remember last year's 74-42 whipping at the hands of the Blue Devils.
Dumas senior Matthew Rush had 176 yards rushing against Lonoke. Hughes' Andre Walker broke free for several long runs against Brinkley.
Both teams can grind out the yardage. Dumas is averaging more than 200 rushing yards a game. Like Hughes, Dumas has a lack of depth within their ranks.
THE GAME: The Hughes Blue Devils (5-3; 3-2 6AAA) vs the Dumas Bobcats (2-6; 2-3 6AAA) Friday, Nov. 2, at Bobcat Stadium. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m. Neither team is ranked.
HUGHES: The Blue Devils suffered a painful third quarter against Brinkley, giving up 25 unanswered points on three turnovers. They can't ill-afford the same fate against Dumas. Walker as well as Jamal Tiggs, Lonnie Smith and Jermaine Davis will have to step up their games.
DUMAS: The Bobcats missed the playoffs by a whisker last year, finishing in a tie for fourth in the 6AAA and losing out in the tiebreaker. Last season, Dumas gave up 151 points in the final three games. Over the past two games they have allowed just 48 points.
It's winner take second place tonight as the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots battle Salem.
Both teams enter tonight's game with identical 5-1 conference records.
The winner gets the No. 2 seed and stays home for the first round of the playoffs while the loser is third and hits the road for a first round game.
Defensively, the two teams are very close with the Patriots allowing only 138 points through nine games and the Greyhounds holding their opponents to just 147 points.
Offensively, P-W has a little edge, scoring 251 points to Salem's 174.
The Patriots moved the ball between the 20s in a 16-14 win over Parkin but struggled inside the red zone.
Salem had little trouble putting away Cross County 32-8 last week.
Salem won last year's game 20-15.
THE GAME: The Palestine-Wheatley Patriots (7-2; 5-1 3AA) vs the Salem Greyhounds (6-3; 5-1 3AA) Friday, Nov. 2, at Greyhound Stadium. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m. Neither team is ranked.
PALESTINE-WHEATLEY: Should the Patriots get the win over Salem and the No. 2 seed into the Class AA playoffs, it will mark the fourth playoff appearance for the team since they resumed football in 1996. P-W hosted Altheimer in 1996 but played first-round games at Barton in 1997 and 2000.
SALEM: The Greyhounds lost very little from last year's 9-3 team which reached the second round of the playoffs before losing to Shiloh Christian 43-0. Salem has an experienced quarterback and a talented backfield.
The Tigers 6-7-8-year-old Flag Football team recently completed a 4-2 season which netted the team second place in the final league standings. The team members are Hunter Coburn, Zack Doler, Tyler Casbeer, Nick Wright, Kyle Gaskin, Hunter Parson, Corey Leslie, Ben Dickey, Kendall Lee, Austin Kennedy, Lance Hughes and Brandon Davis. The team was coached by Jerry Doler, King Casbeer, Mark Wright and Rex Dickey.
* PREP FOOTBALL
Friday, November 2
Bald Knob at Hoxie
Batesville at Newport
Beebe at DeWitt
Blytheville at Jonesboro
Clarksville at Booneville
Conway at LR Catholic
Des Arc at Barton
FS Southside at FS Northside
Fayetteville at Bentonville
Glen Rose at Magnet Cove
Greene County Tech at Paragould
Greenwood at Alma
Hazen at Rison
Hermitage at Bearden
Lake Village at Warren
Lamar at Pulaski Oak Grove
Lonoke at PB Dollarway
LR Hall at LR Central
Marianna Lee at White Hall
Marion at Nettleton
McCrory at LR Arkansas Baptist
Morrilton at Searcy
North Little Rock at Mountain Home
Palestine-Wheatley at Salem
Paris at Mansfield C
Parkin at Marked Tree
Rogers at Springdale
Searcy Harding Academy at Marshall
Stuttgart at West Helena Central
Van Buren at Russellville C
Watson Chapel at Monticello
West Memphis at Forrest City
Wynne at Osceola
* PREP BASKETBALL
Junior High School
Tuesday, November 6
Arkansas Baptist at Palestine-Wheatley
Forrest City at Osceola (Sr. Girls)
Saturday, November 10
Forrest City at Pine Bluff Jamboree
(Senior Boys)
Monday, November 12
Wynne at Forrest City White
Thursday, November 15
Forrest City Blue at Wynne
Friday, November 16
West Helena at Forrest City
(Senior Girls, Senior Boys)
November 22,23,24
Rumble on the Ridge at Mustang Arena
First-Round Games, Thursday, Nov. 22
Hughes vs Columbus, Miss. 3:30 p.m.
Osceola vs Woodlawn, La., 5 p.m.
Forrest City vs William Chrisman, Mo. 6:30 p.m.
Marietta, Ga. vs Carroll, La., 8 p.m.